1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to farm implements, and more particularly to a front-mounted leveling and tillage implement.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is common practice to till farm land prior to fertilizing and seeding. Where the ground to be tilled has previously been plowed, such tilling is generally transverse to the direction of plowing and resultantly, the operator of the tractor plowing the tilling or harrowing implement is subjected to an extremely rough ride and tilling thus becomes a relatively slow, fuel-consuming operation, particularly where the ground was plowed the previous fall. Further, due to the rough, jerky conditions of tractor operation, it has not been feasible to apply pesticide/herbicide chemicals and to plant simultaneous with the tilling operation and thus, yet another operation has been required following tilling involving further time and fuel expense.
In order to eliminate the rough and jerky tractor operation during tilling previously plowed ground, a variety of types of front-mounted leveling implements have been proposed for initially leveling or smoothing the ground ahead of the wheels of the tractor, such prior front mounted leveling implements being shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,529,007; 2,160,524; 3,138,210; 2,277,880; 2,282,367; 3,306,368; 2,415,744; and 2,131,872. Front-mounted cultivators, which inherently provided some leveling action, having also been proposed, such as those shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,620,099 and 1,945,882. With the use of such front-mounted ground leveling implements, not only is the rough, jerky operation of the tractor eliminated thus permitting much faster operation, but it is also possible to tow herbicide/pesticide incorporation and fertilizing/planting implements behind the tractor thus saving the requirement for a subsequent incorporating and planting operation, in turn a great amount of time and fuel expense.
However, the prior front-mounted leveling and tillage implements known to the present applicant suffer from a variety of defects and limitations including such things as the inability to level the implement with respect to the ground and to adjust the depth of penetration of the tines during leveling and tilling, the lack of means for preventing "gouging" by the tines in the event that the front wheels of the tractor enter a depression or hole in the ground, the difficulty and time required to assemble and disassemble the implement on the tractor, and the capability of reducing the overall width of the implement for over-the-road travel and/or storage of the implement.
It is accordingly desirable to provide a front-mounted leveling and tillage implement which eliminates the disadvantages and limitations of prior implements of the general type.